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Best Adobe applications and online tools for creators: part 2

Speaking of the Adobe apps is a long and no less fascinating process, as this company has been creating software since 1982 and there are more than 50 of them designed for creators, marketers, and even analytics.

The variety of them is mindblowing, even though some of the software seems to have the same features or the same goals.

 


What is the difference between Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop?

Which software has better characteristics: Adobe After Effects or Adobe Premiere Pro? All those questions might bother you.

We gave all the answers regarding these questions as well as introduced the apps that our animation Studio use in our creative everyday life in the Part 1 article. Here, we would focus on the other part of Adobe CC applications – 7 of the most featurable and not as popular ones, that any creator should know. 

These technical helpers have capabilities for users of all levels, from beginners to professionals. Thus, you do not need to be a professional to implement them in your professional or a close-to-professional routine.

 


1. Adobe

Price: $9.99 per month Devices: software product runs on PCs with MacWindows, with iOS and Android app for testing Adobe XD is a vector-based UX tool for prototyping web and mobile apps.

In other words, you don’t create the whole app in XD, but use it for visualizing the interface and defining how all the different parts function and relate to each other. This makes it easier to get everything to work correctly before you embark on the final coding.

 


What is Adobe XD offering?

  • Artboards

You are offered a whole range of artboards – the different design areas of any size and shape that you could adjust in any creative way possible.

  • Free kits and tutorials

This feature makes Adobe XD a real learning platform for designers. First, you learn how to make the most certain feature and then try it without leaving the app!

 


  • Icons

That’s an essential element in designing software products. These little images signify the main features of the software and make it fun and easy to use. You can create your icons, as well as redesign the templates.

  • 3D is everywhere

3D is the main design trend in 2021, UI/UX design is influenced as well. Adobe XD allows you to make your icons more realistic, instead of flat images that bear no meaning or emotional context.

With movable 3D icons, using your product turns into an engaging and unforgettable experience even if it has to do with such mundane daily tasks as ordering food or simply creating a new list.


  • Fonts

Last but not least.  With Adobe XD you can play and experiment with fonts and styles to match the idea of your solution. Creating your font is possible as well. Pay attention to the following font below created for the museum and art gallery in Amsterdam that looks classy and artsy.


  • Repeat grid‍

The repeat grid includes such repeated elements as photo galleries, lists, and menus. You do not have to insert all the pictures or texts manually – all the repeated elements like photo galleries, lists, and menus can simply be dragged into a canvas and adjusted.

  • Prototypes

Review the prototype of your future products and the customer’s journey without uploading the content.


2. Character Animator

Price: $19.99 per month, or $52.99/month for the Adobe Creative Cloud. Devices: software product runs on PCs with macOS and Windows Character Animator transforms any piece of art, or one of the software’s built-in character templates, into an animated piece.

You can also use your webcam to add your movements and expressions to the animation in real-time. It is a great software for creating character animated videos.


3. Adobe Dimension

Price: $20.99/month, or $52.99/month for the Adobe Creative Cloud. Devices: software product runs on PCs with macOS and Windows The most experienced designers already know about this program. For the rest, we will tell why this app is worth using.

Fantasy made with Adobe Dimension by Ruben Piemari Cereda

 


Adobe Dimension is a program that allows designers to see how their works will look in 3D (almost) in a couple of clicks. Why bother with hundreds of layers in Photoshop and Illustrator if you can easily transfer your 2D logo onto a 3D object?

Just upload your drawing to the Dimension app, select the desired mockup from the catalog (there is a lot of stuff there: starting from a pen to airplanes and space rockets), and “glue” the logo on the desired item. Was it not in the database? No problem here! You can create it by yourself or export it from another program.


Adobe Dimension greatly simplifies the work of designers. What could take around 2-3 days previously, could now be done in a few hours. Using machine learning, the program will automatically determine the best lighting for the scene and the place of the light source.

Adobe Dimension even knows how to automatically align objects to the horizon. The new version changed the rendering engine, allowing customers to choose their renderers for faster previews. The system also integrates more smoothly with Illustrator and Photoshop. Here is the process of creating a 3D model in the Dimension app.

  1. Add models

 


  1. Select materials

 


  1. Create a lighting environment

 


  1. Render in Adobe Dimension

 


4. Adobe Stock

Price: from $ 30 for a package with 10 materials. There is a free trial period. Device: any Headings: business, environment, religion, hobbies, entertainment, government, science, news, etc. Number of works: 100+ million Adobe Stock is a stock photo service offered by Adobe that is fully integrated into the Adobe Creative Cloud platform.

This photo stock has collected pictures, illustrations, video content, vector illustration. The main goal of this service is to provide the materials necessary for work without leaving the Creative Cloud service.

 


If a person needs stock photography, illustration, or 4k / HD ready-made video with footage in the process of work, all they need to do is launch Adobe Stock CC. Adobe Stock is integrated into Photoshop, Illustrator, and three other services: InDesign, Premiere Pro, and After Effects. This application is mostly used by content creators – illustrators, designers, for 2 different goals. First of all, you can find the references or files to use in your further work. Vivid photos will complement your project and will attract attention.

Thus, buying professionally created ones for landing pages, books, magazines, advertising campaigns, or for your daily posting on a blog is a cool idea. Secondly, that’s a great tool for selling your artwork.

 


Top features of Adobe Stock:

  • The “clever” search and filters will help you to search for the content needed. Besides, there is a function “Visual search”: upload an image and the resource will automatically select similar materials.
  • Adobe stock has approximately 110 million images on all topics. It can be used both in the Creative Cloud system and independently of it, by purchasing a subscription for a month, a year, or by purchasing individual images.
  • Now any Photoshop user can upload a photo from stock, work with it, and, if he likes the result, buy the image. Any changes that the photographer or designer made to the picture will remain in effect, but the watermark will disappear as soon as the photo is paid for.

According to Adobe, approximately 90% of users who buy content from photo stocks use Adobe products. And their percentage among sellers is even higher – about 90%.


Examples of works that could be found there:

Let’s hit it with the handy apps that could be used even on your smartphone or IPad.

 


5. Adobe Fresco

Price: is available on its own for $9.99 per month.

Device: IPad only

Fresco’s interface is simple and intuitive (Image credit: Phil Galloway)

 


Adobe Fresco is a digital art app, which mimics some of the best elements of other fine art programs for iPad. It combines the expression and power of Photoshop brushes, with the precision of vector brushes.

The Live Brush function allows you to paint with watercolors and oils that blossom, blend, smear, and smudge just like in real life. Fresco has a simple and intuitive interface that’s great for beginners and pros alike.

 


Pros: Fantastic selection of pixel brushes Runs smoothly with zero lag A blending of Raster, Live, and Vector brushes

Cons: Expensive for non-CC subscribers No text tool Limited Live Brushes No choice of paper or canvas texture

Adobe Fresco has a fantastic selection of pixel brushes (Image credit: Phil Galloway)


6. Adobe Spark

Price: Free, still there is a premium version with extra tools available Device: could be used as a web app on the desktop, or individual apps on your phone


That’s your easy-to-use tool for creating graphics, web pages, and videos. Adobe Spark is the app that makes creating processes way easier. 


What does Adobe Spark offer?

  • It’s a suite of apps for creating simple graphic and video projects
  • Very user-friendly – No design skills needed!
  • Integrates Adobe Stock images and Unsplash free photos
  • Free for all (branded by Adobe Spark)
  • Paid version available (non-branded + premium features) ideal for brands and businesses
  • Web-based + iOS and Android apps
  • Mobile friendly
  • Ideal for simple yet professional-looking designs

Even though It is mostly a basic tool, it is way simpler to learn how-to`s and start working right away. It’s aimed at marketing and social media professionals, as well as amateurs and beginners who want to create cool content for Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, but don’t have the time to learn more complicated software such as Photoshop and Illustrator.

Instagram stories created at Adobe Spark Post 

 


What Can You Create With Adobe Spark?

  • Professional Graphics for Visual Impact
  • Scrolling One-Page Websites
  • Leveraging Social Media with Adobe Spark
  1. Square-shaped graphics that will look great on Instagram
  2. Headers for use as covers on Facebook or Twitter
  3. Shareable posters and infographics
  4. Animated short stories and other videos to craft a compelling story
  • Promotional Videos


7. Adobe Sketch

Adobe Sketch brings your creativity to life wherever your inspiration finds you. This app borrowed a powerful brush from Photoshop and put it on your iPhone and iPad. Pens, pencils, and watercolors are realistic and powerful, including a selection from the brush master Kyle T. Webster.

Create and resize canvases up to 8K for superior print quality. Showcase your digital painting process in an automatically recorded stop-motion movie without leaving the app.

“Beautiful Birds Series” Digital Art by Wayne Flint created at Sketch 

 


Special features:

  • 24 built-in brushes with adjustable size, color, overlay, and opacity
  • Access to thousands of Photoshop brushes imported into Sketch
  • Increasing canvas size all the way up to a printable 8k
  • Blending photos with picture layers – reflow, rename, transform and merge
  • Stencils for overlaying and printing curves and basic shapes, including straight lines and circles
  • Perspective and graph grids to help you style your artwork
  • Optimized for Apple Pencil and iPad Pro
  • Licensed royalty-free photos from Adobe Stock in Sketch app

“The last Dance” by max@ndr Graphics created at Sketch 

 


Last but not least

Do you wonder what is the best way to promote the artworks created at Adobe CC applications? Well, it`s Behance, which is also run by Adobe. Its main goal is to share and discover artworks created at Adobe CC and much more. Here is a short video of the Behance features. 

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